About Our Proposed Merger

Affiliation Underway Among South Shore Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Partners HealthCare

A formal process is underway among Partners HealthCare, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and South Shore Hospital that is expected to result in South Shore Hospital joining Partners. The organizations have reached agreement about how they would work together to improve the coordination, accessibility and affordability of quality care for the people of the South Shore.

The proposed merger – which is subject to federal and state regulatory reviews—is designed to benefit the community in several ways, principally by:

Increasing the availability of preventive and primary care services on the South Shore

The proposed affiliation will further strengthen South Shore Hospital and its presence in the region. The agreement specifies that South Shore Hospital would keep its name; remain a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, charitable health care provider; and maintain its own board of directors, medical staff, community connections and fund-raising activities. Significant investments are planned in primary care, specialty care and health information technology, and the successful implementation of our shared vision will continue to require a robust, high-quality workforce.

In June 2012, South Shore Hospital announced its plans to join Partners and answered questions about the proposed affiliation. Since then, considerable progress has been made:

A thorough process of due diligence has been conducted among the organizations. This formal period of mutual disclosure and analysis is typical prior to affiliations or mergers.

Details about the proposed affiliation have been provided to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. Federal and state reviews are an expected and standard part of the affiliation process. It is expected that the reviews will continue for several more months.